DUDLEY Council is set to approve a new million-pound education centre in Pensnett for students with special needs.

A meeting of the council’s cabinet on Wednesday October 1 will be presented with plans for a new building on the site of the former Pensnett School, Tiled House Lane.

The authority has secured £1m from the government’s Education Funding Agency for the post 16 centre which will teach academic and vocational courses for people aged up to 25 with learning difficulties and disabilities.

Cllr Tim Crumpton, Dudley cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This is brilliant, it means we have a great opportunity for some of our special needs children to lead a good quality of life post 16 close to their parents.

“If we talk about loving our community – this is it.”

A delighted Cllr Crumpton paid particular tribute to council officers who he said put together a well thought out and competitive bid for the hotly-contested cash to pay for the scheme.

If the scheme is approved following a public consultation, the main Pensnett School buildings will be demolished to make way for the new centre while the sports hall on the site will be refurbished to provide modern facilities for disabled athletes.

The council currently spends an estimated £50,000 annually on security at the site – the school closed in 2012 and the existing buildings require renovations costing £1.7m to make them suitable for continued use.

A report for cabinet members also says the council’s current provision for post 16 special needs education is not meeting a growing demand and young people are being sent out of the borough to access services which would be provided at the new centre.

The new centre will provide places for around 40 young people and Cllr Crumpton pledged the authority would seek to place contracts for demolition and construction with local companies and high staff to student ratios at the new centre would ensure a jobs boost for Pensnett.

Dudley Council will add around £250,000 to pay for the centre, Cllr Crumpton also revealed further plans are being considered to add more facilities on the site in the future.